KUSA - It's the 911 call getting a lot of attention around the country right now - a nurse at an independent-living facility in California refused to perform CPR on an elderly woman, leading to her death.

Police are investigating if any criminal charges should be filed, which Denver-based labor law attorney Kim Ryan says is unlikely.

"Generally, that requires some kind of intent or some kind of conduct on the part of the person, and so just failing to act in a situation to act like that, I think [prosecutors] would have a really hard time pressing charges," Ryan said.

She says the nurse could be held liable in a civil case.

"The question is, what if someone renders aid and they do it badly, would they be civilly liable for causing damages in rendering the aid, or would there be liability for them failing to render aid?" Ryan said.

In Colorado, the Good Samaritan Law protects bystanders if they give aid to a stranger.

"Under our law, they will generally be immune from any kind of civil liability if something goes wrong," Ryan said. "As long as they did not engage in gross negligence or some kind of willful behavior that caused more damages."

Ryan says the exception to this rule is if someone is in a medical facility as a patient, then the person administering aid can face a malpractice suit.

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